A Ledger Blog

Reporter Tom Palmer discusses the environment in Polk and beyond.

The annual assault on growth management in the Florida Legislature continues. A pair of bills filed this year (SB 484 and HB 0873) proposed to do away with regional planning councils and turn their duties over to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity or, in the case of protection of the Wekiva River Basin and other areas, the St. Johns River Water Management District. Regional planning councils were established as part of Florida’s growth laws in the 1970s. Their primary… Read More »

Under the banner of state water policy, some of Florida’s political leaders are trying to further dilute whatever diluted environmental regulations remain in Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The topic is legislation whose provisions include making environmental regulation voluntary in the Lake Okeechobee basin at the headwaters of the Everglades. As many of you know, the Everglades has suffered from water pollution from federally subsidized sugar plantations and other agricultural operations as well as urban runoff from advancing development… Read More »

I know there’s some unhappiness in the environmental community about the County Commission’s decision today to use the Polk County Environmental Lands program funding to balance deficits in parks and road building funds instead of levying new taxes to take care of those problems. I predicted this zero sum game result in this space last year. This was a conscious decision by staff to keep things “revenue neutral” and not rock the boat politically. County commissioners have not raised property… Read More »

As the debate over how to implement Amendment 1, the Land and Water Legacy Amendment overwhelming approved by Florida voters in November proceeds in Tallahassee, there’s concern that Floridians might be facing a Lotto-like fund shift. Instead of spending money to protect conservation land, which is the ultimate clean water protection through ecosystem services the natural environment performs, there is talk of diverting the money for development-related water and sewer infrastructure projects. The latest group to sound off on this… Read More »

United Waterfowlers-FL have issued a statement advocating that money from the proceeds of Amendment 1 be used for public works projects such as expanded sewer treatment and stormwater treatment rather than buying more conservation land. United Waterfowlers opposed passage of Amendment 1. The group’s opposition appeared to be connected to hard feelings over not being able to hunt at places like Circle B Bar Reserve and the Hampton Tract in the Green Swamp because of opposition from some of the… Read More »

Decades ago a group called the Polk Coalition for the Environment would appear before the County Commission every year and present their agenda for things they’d like commissioners to consider in the coming year. They asked for a stormwater utility fee, which was finally enacted last year. They asked for mandatory residential garbage pickup and periodic community trash pickups, which was enacted by 1990 and expanded more recently through public-private partnerships. They asked for a place where residents could take… Read More »

The 1989 Christmas freeze certainly devastated the citrus industry and put a kink in holiday cooking as described in Wednesday’s Ledger, but there’s a lot more to that story.. The freeze’s effect on small citrus growers laid the groundwork for the Growth Plan War that followed. The freeze came as the deadline was looming for Polk to comply with state law and come up with its first-ever real growth plan. Polk officials dug in their heels and dragged their feet… Read More »

Florida’s environmental community has a lot riding on the outcome of Tuesday’s election. The big issue is whether they succeed in persuading 60 percent of the voters to approve Amendment 1, which would guarantee the resumption of funding for conservation land purchases to complete a landmark land-acquisition program begun in the 1980s by Gov. Bob Martinez. It would require no new taxes, but would simply reallocate money from taxes on real estate transactions that were supposed to be used for… Read More »

Former Florida Sen. Paula Dockery confronted a couple of the questions opponents of Amendment 1, the Florida Land and Water Legacy Amendment, during a League of Women Voters forum Tuesday night. First is the question of whether this issue ought to be in the Florida Constitution. Dockery said the Florida Constitution already authorizes the state to issue bonds for conservation and environmental restoration projects, so it logically follows that the source of revenue for such projects should also be in… Read More »

I notice the critics of Amendment 1, which if it passes would guarantee money for conservation land purchases, are pushing their agenda. One prime argument is that spending money for conservation land doesn’t belong in the Florida Constitution.. Let’s start with the basics, which is Section 7 of the Florida Constitution, which states: “It shall be the policy of the state to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty. Adequate provision shall be made by law for the… Read More »

About This Blog

Tom Palmer is a native Floridian who has spent decades exploring and getting to know Florida’s natural areas and becoming familiar with the diversity of wildlife in the state. He is an avid birdwatcher and butterfly watcher. He also has assisted in many land stewardship projects and occasionally has time to slip into his kayak and explore some more.